Anousim Hold Israel Solidarity Marches in Texas and Brazil
By Anav Silverman
(TPS) – In a unique show of solidarity, Anousim, descendants of forcibly converted Spanish and Portuguese Jews, held organized marches around the world yesterday, October 25, in response to the ongoing terror attacks taking place in Israel.
Sunday’s solidarity marches took place among other places, in Recife, Brazil and El Paso, Texas, two cities which have high concentrations of Anousim.
“Expressing solidarity with Israel is an important part of the Anousim identity,” Ashely Perry, who was in contact with those who helped organize the events, told Tazpit Press Service.
Perry is President of Reconectar, an organization facilitating a re-connection between the descendants of Spanish and Portuguese Jewish communities and the Jewish world.
“We Anousim in Recife march in favor of peace and Israel, to express solidarity with the State of Israel and our Jewish brethren who are currently under attack from Palestinian terrorists, as well as expressing ourselves publicly, in order to give visibility to the Brazilian and international Anousim issue,” said Jefferson Linconn, one of the organizers of the Recife event.
In Recife, the solidarity march was held symbolically outside the Kahal Zur Israel Synagogue, the oldest synagogue in the Americas that was built in 1636 by Sephardic Jews who enjoyed religious freedom under the Dutch.
Adults and children in Recife, held banners and waved Israeli flags in order to express full support for the legitimate right of Israel to protect its civilian population.
According to Perry, there are estimates of tens of millions of people who descend from forcibly converted Jews from the Spanish and Portuguese Jewish communities.
“Our people are reconnecting every day around the world in their thousands. We call on Jewish religious and lay leaders and individuals to put out their arms in a warm embrace to these people who have overcome so much historic oppression and are now seeking to reconnect,” said Perry.
Perry is also the Director General of the official Knesset Caucus for the Reconnection with the Descendants of Spanish and Portuguese Jewish Communities, chaired by MK Robert Ilatov. The Knesset caucus recently held an historic conference attracting over 300 political, religious, diplomatic and Jewish organizational leaders from Israel and all over the world.